Missy Strothers

DNF for Joey Logano at DaytonaWreck at lap 54 took out all three Penske cars

Restrictor plate racing is a race of chance and survival.This was never more evident than the Daytona race Saturday night.

The weekend started out wet.Joey Logano was P4 in the first practice, but the second practice was cancelled due to rain.During the two qualifying laps, Logano was P11 in both.

During pre-race activities, Kyle Petty picked Logano to win.Logano was suffering from laryngitis and had little voice left.Crew chief Todd Gordon teased Logano that he should have drank more tea.Logano came back and stated, “If you knew how much tea I’ve drank the last few days – it doesn’t do jack.”Spotter T. J. Majors told Logano to save his voice.Team owner Roger Penske came over the radio to wish the team good luck and to also tell Majors that Dale Earnhardt Jr. was praising Majors on the telecast.Majors responded with “It’s about time he said something nice”.

One activity that always happens at the July Daytona race is a salute to our troops.The cars do one lap and come back down pit road and stop.Along pit road are lined service men and women from all branches of the military.Many of the pit crews are up on the wall holding American flags.

Logano started the race P11 on the inside.He moved to the middle lane at lap 3 and was P15, then to the outside lane on lap 4 and was P18.By lap 9 Logano stated handling was coming into play.He moved to three wide again, and then the outside and was P10 by lap 13.At lap 17, all the lead cars had settled into a single lane and by lap 19 lap cars started to become involved.Logano complained that the car wassquirrely on the straight away.Majors stated the inside lane was trying to form, but wasn’t staying organized. At lap 31, Logano was P7.He tried to make a move on the inside, but was at P13 when the stage ended at lap 40.The #17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won stage one.

Logano pitted at lap 43 for 4 tires and adjustment.He restarted P12 when the green flag came out at lap 46.The first (of many) Cautions came out at lap 48 when the #21 of Paul Menard spun, incurring a lot of damage, but was able to continue the race.Logano did not pit.He restarted P11 when the green came out at lap 53.

Then the “big one” happened.From reports it seems that the #24 of William Byron checked up after a block, causing the#2 of Penske teammate Brad Keselowski to also check up, and the #17 of Stenhouse Jr. to tap the rear of Keselowski, causing him to spin.By the time the carnage was done, the following cars were either minor or major damaged:2 / 3 / 4 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 17 / 19 / 21 / 22 / 41 /42 / 43 / 48 / 88 / 95 72 / 1 / 7 / 15 / 32and 34.All three Penske cars were taken out of the race with heavy damage.After a trip to the infield care center, Logano stated, “Longest crash ever, hard pushing up front, but you can’t stop when you are going 200 mph.It’s just Speedway racing.We were in the bad 50% this time.”

The green finally came out at lap 63, but a Caution quickly followed when the #17 of Stenhouse took air off the #18 of Kyle Busch, also collecting the #1 of Jamie McMurray.The green came out at lap 69. By this time there were only 29 of the 40 original cars running, with 23 on the lead lap.The Caution for the end of stage 2 came out at lap 80 and Stenhouse Jr. won stage 2.

The green flag for stage 3 came out at lap 87.At lap 125, the Caution came out for the # 42 of Kyle Larson having a flat tire and damaging Stenhouse in the process. The green came out at lap 128.Another Caution came out at lap 131 when the #96 of D. J. Kennington spun.At this time there were 21 cars still on the lead lap.The green came out at lap 137, but another Caution came out at lap 149 when Stenhouse lost a tire.

The Caution again came out when the 10 / 34 / 48 / and 00 all collided.This took the race into NASCAR overtime.The first attempt did not bring the field back to the white flag before the 14 / 48 / 6 / 15 / 43 / 4 / 62 and 17 collided.A red flag came out for wreck clean up, then the field tried again and the race was won by the #20 of Erik Jones. It was Jones first Cup win.

At the end of the race, there were 13 cars on the lead lap, and 20 cars total running.

The points standings changed a lot with Jones winning and all the DNFs of the race.Logano is now 4th in points, -131 behind leader Kyle Busch, with Kevin Harvick second with -57 and Martin Truex Jr. third with -131.

The next race is at Kentucky Speedway.This is my “home track” and we will be there for all three races.

Logano quote from NBCSports:“It looks like they crashed a lot of cars. I was in the middle of it and I got hit from every corner really quick and it just seemed like they kept coming. I was like, ‘Stop, everyone.’ It was just so hard to stop when you’re going so fast out there, but it’s part of the game here. Sometimes you’re in the half of the field that finishes and sometimes you’re in half of the field that doesn’t finish it and we were in the bad 50 percent this time. That’s part of the game and we’ll come back to Talladega at the next superspeedway and hopefully do what we did there in the spring and get our Shell/Pennzoil Ford in Victory Lane.”

P8 Finish for Joey Logano at ChicagolandMr. Consistent is back with points in all three stages

Since 2011, the Chicago race had been later in the year as part of the playoffs. This year, it was moved back to mid-summer. Sadly the heat index was very high this weekend for all the Midwest and temperatures in the cars topped 150F. Driver and crew hydration was high on the list of things to take care of before, during and after the race.

Joey Logano’s stats for Chicago in 9 starts was 1 pole and 5 top 10 finishes. The #22 car unloaded fast off the hauler, with P9 and P3 times during the two practices on Saturday. Qualifying for the race was held at 7pm Saturday, but Logano failed to move out of round two and had a P14 position for the start of the race. Four cars did not pass post qualifying inspection and went to the back.

During pre-race laps, Logano came over the radio and stated, “We have a great car, let’s capitalize on it”. SpotterT.J. Majors reminded Logano he could not go below the white line on restarts until past the start finish line.

Logano had moved to P8 by lap 2. The outside line was the preferred line to run in all day. Crew chiefTodd Gordon came over the radio and let Logano know that everyone was fighting tight cars. By lap 15, Logano was at P9 and the #42 of Kyle Larson was running the wall, always his preferred line at Chicago. By lap 25, Logano had dropped to P10, complaining of being tight, particularly up the track. At lap 29, Majors came over the radio warning Logano to go high as the #36 of David Ragan dropped to the bottom of the track. No Caution was called as the #36 made it back to pit road.

Green flag pit stops started on lap 35 with the #78 of Martin Truex Jr. being one of the first to pit. Logano pitted on lap 39 for 4 tires and fuel, however some of the other cars, including the #2 of Penske teammate Brad Keselowski stayed out until lap 46, and the #3 of Austin Dillon and the # 31 of Ryan Newman did not pit until lap 61. Logano was then scored at P8 and finished stage one at that position at lap 80. The #10 of Aric Almirola won the stage. Logano complained about how bad he was in dirty air and that he starts out loose in center, then goes to tight in center with exit being loose. He also stated it was worse when he moved up the track. Logano pitted on lap 83 and took 4 tires, fuel and an ice bag. He restarted at P8 when the green flag came out at lap 86 for stage 2.

Logano moved up to P6 on lap 96, but was down to P8 when he and several others, including Truex, green flag pit stopped at lap 119. By lap 123 the cycle of pit stops were complete and Logano was again scored at P8. The Caution came out at lap 127 for debris on the track. All the leaders pitted on lap 129 under the yellow and Logano came off pit road -1. Newman did not pit and Keselowski took 2 tires, which put Logano in P10 for the restart when the green flag came out at lap 132. At lap 142, Almirola pitted for a loose wheel, putting Logano at P8, but he had dropped to P10 at lap 160 when stage 2 ended. The #4 of Kevin Harvick won the stage.

During the Caution between stages, Logano stated the car ran decent to about 20 laps, then gets loose and he can’t move up the track. He also asked for ice again. He pitted at lap 193 and came off pit road P14. Gordon stated the car had damage from 2 pit stops previously that needed to be fixed. Both Gordon and Majors were discussing a potential storm cell that was approaching the track.

Logano started P14 when the green came out at lap 167. He was up to P11 when the Caution came out for the #11 of Denny Hamlin spinning. Logano pitted at lap 178 and Gordon elected to put scuff (from qualifying) on the right side only plus do 3 rounds of adjustment gaining Logano +8 spots. This meant the #22 team would have an additional set of tires than those that had put on 4 new ones.

Logano started P3 when the green flag came out at lap 181 and was up as far as P2, but had dropped to P5 when the Caution came out at lap 207 for the # 72 of Corey LaJoie hitting the wall. Gordon and Majors talked weather again and figured the storm would not affect the track. Logano pitted at lap 209 and lost -4 spots coming off pit road to P9. Logano was not happy and came over the radio stating, “How are we going to win a race doing this XXXX?” (look for that in Radioactive this week). Gordon stated they were good on fuel to the end.

Logano restarted P9 when the green flag came out at lap 212 and was up to P5 at lap 217. Logano stated at lap 245 that his water temps were up, Gordon said there was debris on the grill but not to worry. Logano stated the car was tightening up as he was passed by the #14 of Clint Bowyer, the #20 of Erik Jones and the #11 of Denny Hamlin, putting the #22 car in P8. Logano finished the race P8 with the #18 of Kyle Busch winning after spinning the #42 of Kyle Larson out of the way on the last lap.

Logano came over the radio after the race ended and stated, “Well, that was about all we had there”.

Logano is still third in points, -119 behind leader Kyle Busch and -57 behind second place Kevin Harvick.

I love road races. I was supposed to be spending the weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington Ohio watching vintage Grand Prix and was not going to be able to report on the Sonoma race. However, there was thunderstorms predicted for the entire weekend and we really didn’t want to spend the time sitting in our camper with a dog that needs drugs during thunderstorms, so we decided to stay home and were able to watch both IndyCar and NASCAR.

Joey Logano’s past stats for Sonoma are 4 top 10 finishes with his best being P3. During practices, he was P3 on the first one, P30 on the second. For Qualifying, Logano ran P5 during the first round and qualified at P12 for the start of the race. During one of the practice sessions, Logano showed Fox Sports Jamie Little how he had a map of Sonoma taped to the center of his steering wheel.

With Sonoma being a road course, it is impossible for one spotter to handle the entire race viewing. Helping Logano’s full time spotter T. J. Majors was Dave Nichols (aka “Mule”) who is a tire technician on the #22 road crew.

During the pre-race laps, Logano came over the radio and stated “Let’s have a good one today – keep it in one piece and be up front when it matters”.

Logano had moved up to P10 by lap 5, but at lap 11 was passed by the #14 of Clint Bowyer for P11. Logano stated his tires were already giving up. Crew Chief Todd Gordon told Logano to up the track bar up as high as it would go. Logano was at P11 when he pitted for 4 tires and fuel. The leaders did not pit until the next lap. Majors reminded Logano there was nothing to be gained here and to take care of the tires for the restart of the next stage. When stage 1 ended at lap 25, Logano was at P24, with the # 47 of A.J. Allmendinger winning the stage. Logano did not pit during the Caution and Gordon stated he wanted to make the tires last till the end of stage 2. During the Caution laps, Logano stated it seems like his front tires were giving up the longer he ran. He said he was best on the hill and in 2, was ok on the esses, but could not hold the curb in turn 11 at all. Gordon told him to keep the track bar up for the start.

Logano started stage 2 at P5 when the green came out at lap 29. He was at P6 when the Caution came out for Allmendinger blowing an engine by missing a shift at lap 33. Logano stated he didn’t want to go further up on the track bar or he would use up the tires. Logano did not pit during the Caution and restarted P6 when the green came out at lap 36. During the next 20 laps, he dropped to P14 by lap 46, complaining that he couldn’t turn and had no drive. Logano was at P15 when he pitted at lap 47. Gordon called for 2 rounds out of the right rear and to put rubber in the right rear. The leaders pitted on the next lap. Logano finished P26 when the Caution came out at lap 50 with the #11 of Denny Hamlin winning the stage. Logano stated keeping the track bar up wasn’t helping, so he was going to keep it down. He again did not pit under the Caution between stages. Gordon stated that they wedge should help drive.

Logano started at P8 when the green came out at lap 54. He stated he was struggling through the exit, that’s where the other cars were beating him. Logano was at P10 by lap 65 and stated he was struggling in the front, that is had started out loose but was now tight. Some cars started green flag pit stops at lap 70, with Logano pitting on lap 72. He started moving up as others pitted and with fresher tires and was as high as P8 on lap 91 once all the lead lap cars had pitted. From there, the 22 continued to struggle and by the time the race ended at lap 110, Logano was at P19, with the #78 of Martin Truex Jr. winning the race.

Gordon came over the radio at the end of the race stating, “Clearly we didn’t do what we needed to on the car”.

In Between Rain, Joey Logano lands P72 hours late, and almost an entire stage short due to rain for Michigan race.

Michigan International Raceway has a long history with the Team Penske organization. In 1972 the track was going to fold, and Roger Penske purchased it. There were several upgrades made over the years and “The Captain” sold the track in 1999, but it will always have a special place in the hearts of Team Penske. It is also close to both the corporate headquarters of Ford and GM, and of course, both makers want their cars winning on the “home” track.

Joey Logano’s stats for Michigan going into the weekend were 12 top 10, 3 poles and 2 wins (he actually had his first win with the Team Penske at Michigan). During practice Logano ran P10 and P3 (the third practice was cancelled due to rain) and during qualifying he placed P4 / P6 and P5 for the race. Crew chief Todd Gordon had his favorite #4 pit stall for the race.

During the rain delay, Logano was interviewed and stated, “I think we can win today. We have a 5th place car, but if we do everything perfect, we could score our 3rd win. We are in Ford and Penske’s back yard here. The restarts are so important. But it would be nice to have more wins and more playoff points. The intensity of racing (with the stages) is awesome and every lap is important.”

One change for all teams was that only nitrogen would be able to be used to power the lug nut guns. This year all teams are using a NASCAR supplied gun, but some teams were using other air, and having gun failures. NASCAR felt that only using nitrogen would help stop these failures.

Once the command to fire calls was called at 4:30 ET (after an almost 2 hour delay due to rain) Logano came over the radio and stated, “Let me know about weather and what we are racing to. TJ (Majors, Logano’s spotter), get me to the top as soon as you can.”

Logano stayed at P5 for the beginning laps of the race, but dropped to P6 by lap 19. He stated he was loose off and couldn’t hold the corner. The Competition Caution came out at lap 25, but cars could not take fuel, only tires and adjust cars. Logano pitted at lap 27 and his pit crew gained him +1 off pit road. The top 3 cars only took 2 tires, while Logano took 4. He restarted P5 when the green came out at lap 29.

A Caution came out at lap 35 when the #43 of Bubba Wallace and #38 of David Ragan collided. Logano stated he was having issues going wide open. The team did not pit. He restarted P5 when the green came out at lap 40, but was stuck on the inside and was at P9 by the time he got into line with the other lead cars on lap 41. Logano stated he was a little tighter this run, but after about 10 laps the car began to fall off.

The Caution came out at lap 56 when the #6 of Matt Kenseth spun. Pit road did not open and there was a one lap shootout for the end of the stage. Logano finished P9 and Penske teammate Ryan Blaney won the stage.

Logano pitted at lap 62 and took 4 tires, while many in the lead took 2. He restarted P18 when the Green came out at lap 64 and was at P12 on lap 66 when the # 19 of Daniel Suarez spun and brought out the Caution. Gordon elected to stay out, stating that he didn’t think the race would go the whole 200 laps due to fronts coming in. Logano restarted P12 on lap 71 and was quickly up to P7 by lap 72.

He was at p5 by lap 85 when the Caution came out for the #42 of Kyle Larson spinning. Logano stated the car was much better on exit this time. He pitted, but was having issues with electrical. Gordon asked him to switch to a diagnostic page on the digital dash and read off the codes. The issues seemed to resolve itself after Logano cycled through the electronics, but he restarted P13 when the green came out on lap 90. He finished the stage P14 when the Caution came out at lap 120, with the #4 of Kevin Harvick winning the stage.

Logano stated the car was much better this run, best it had been, but when stuck in dirty air it was so hard to pass. He pitted at lap 120 and his pit crew gained him +4 off pit road. He restarted P10 (on the outside, the preferred lane) when the green came out at lap 125. Logano was up to P7 when the Caution came out at lap 128 for the #17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spinning.

Gordon came over the radio and stated mist was building up the last two laps and Majors stated it looked heaviest in turns 2 and 3. Cars were brought down pit road for rain, and the race was called at lap 133 with Logano finishing P7 and the #14 of Clint Bowyer winning.

Logano is third in points, 98 behind leader Kyle Busch and 23 behind second place Kevin Harvick.

Quote from NBCSN: I got out of the car and thought, ‘Man, that was a weird day.’ It was hard to pass. I had a car that was capable of running in the top five, but the result depended on the restart. If you got a good restart, you could settle in and run pretty well. Our car took off pretty good on restarts, which was good and played into our hands a little bit. We had a good pit stop at the end that got us up to 10th, and we had a good restart at the end and got a couple cars and that is what got us to the seventh-place finish.”

The 22 team has had a good record at Pocono in the past. Six top 10 finishes, 2 poles and 1 win. During the two practices, Logano was P16 and P9 and during qualifying, he ran P19 / P10 and P7 for the start of the race. Penske teammate Ryan Blaney was on the pole.

Fox Sports did an interesting pre-race interview with Todd Gordon, crew chief for the #22, Paul Wolfe, crew chief for the #2 and Jeremy Bullins, crew chief for the #12 on what it is like racing for Team Penske. All three commented on the “Penske Way” that is not just in the shop, but also in the public eye.

Gordon talked about the Penske policy of promoting from within, that owner Roger Penske likes to focus on the growth of his people. Wolfe talked about how most in the organization start at the ground level and work their way up. Asked if there were any differences or secrets between the three teams, all three crew chiefs stated there are no secrets, that all three cars are built the same, then modified for the particulars of each driver. Gordon stated that, “It’s a Penske race car, it doesn’t become the #22 until the colors go on”. All three were asked if they could see themselves working anywhere else, and all three stated no. Wolfe added, “I’m in a great situation here. The grass is green here”.

During pre-race laps, Logano came over the radio and stated, “Let’s have a good one today. There will be a lot of strategy and a lot of crazy things going on”. Pocono is a unique track with it’s three turns and 2.5 miles that most of the drivers liken more to a road course than an “oval”. Brakes and shifting is used a lot on the track vs. other tracks. Fuel window is 36-40 laps and with the stages being 50 / 50 and 60 there would need to be green flag pit stops if there were no Cautions during the stage.

Logano started P7 on the outside. By lap 3 he had moved to P5 and stated on the radio, “Not bad here, actually it’s pretty good”. At lap 17 Logano pitted. Immediately after the pit stop, Gordon came over the radio and stated, “Save me a little, we didn’t get all the fuel in”. There was a new gas man on Logano’s pit crew. Logano got into a slower rhythm and Gordon stated that should be good.

At lap 32, Gordon predicted they should be good on fuel to the end and Logano was running P10 at the time. He moved to P9 on lap 35, but at lap 45, Gordon again came over the radio asking for fuel saving. At lap 48 Logano stated the car had switched over to the other fuel cell and unfortunately had to pit on lap 49, after the pits had closed for the end of the stage, in order to not run out of gas. This put Logano P22, 1 lap down for the end of the stage when the Caution came out at lap 50. The #78 of Martin Truex Jr. won stage 1.

Logano was penalized for pitting when the pits were closed, so Gordon elected to pit on lap 54. Logano had to start stage two at the end of the line, putting him P36 and 1 lap down. Gordon stated that they would run this stage long. The leaders started pitting on lap 63 and by lap 80 after most had pitted, Logano was back on the lead lap and P27. Right before pitting on lap 90, Logano was 1 lap down and at P25. He ended stage 2 at P29, one lap down. The #4 of Kevin Harvick won stage 2.

Logano elected to stay out during the Caution and take the wave around to get back on the lead lap. He restarted P26 when the green flag came out for stage 3 at lap 106. Logano was up to P19 when the Caution came out at lap 124 for the #99 of Derrike Cope spinning. Logano pitted at lap 126 and his pit crew got him +2 off pit road. He started P17 when the green flag came out at lap 129. There was a stacking of cars on the restart with several including the #19 of Daniel Suarez receiving damage. At lap 133, Logano was at P15 but complained of the brakes going. Gordon asked “Brakes or pedal?” and Logano responded pedal.

There was a Caution for debris at lap 139 and Logano pitted. Both Truex and Harvick stayed out. Logano’s pit crew pulled some tape to help with the brake issue. He restarted P21 when the green flag came out at lap 143. Logano was up to P18 when the Caution came out for the #11 of Denny Hamlin spinning and hitting the inside wall, causing damage to the #88 of Alex Bowman in the process. Logano stated he was pumping the brake pedal every time he used it, and Gordon stated there was little he could do. Logano did not pit during the Caution.

The green flag came out at lap 150 with Logano P15. The cars again stacked up on the restart and Logano caught the left rear of the #20 of Erik Jones, turning the #20 into the wall. Logano immediately came over the radio and stated “That was my fault, I’m sorry”. I’m not sure what happened and I caught him”. Logano restarted P15 when the green came out at lap 153 and finished the race P9. Truex won the race, his second win of the year.

Logano came over the radio and stated, “Way to dig all day”. Gordon stated, “We fumbled one, we will build on that going forward."

Logano is now 3rd in the points standings, minus 90 behind points leader Kyle Busch and 3 behind second place Harvick.

From NBC Sports: Finished 9th: “We just didn’t get the gas tank full on the first stop and ended up running out of gas and then we had to pit while the pits were closed and went down a lap and then there just weren’t any cautions to get the lap back. Once we did it was just too late. We finished ninth and at least we got back up there some but I feel like we should have finished top five with the car we had. We just shot ourselves in the foot a little bit today.”

Not a Great Day for the #22Loose car and damage plague Joey Logano at Charlotte

The Sunday of Memorial Day is THE day for racing enthusiasts.It starts with Formula 1 racing in Monaco, followed by the Indianapolis 500, and finishes with the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte.Leading up to the night of the 600, Team Penske was definitely on a winning streak.Thursday it was learned that team owner Roger Penske would be one of the inductees to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.Saturday, Brad Keselowski drove the #22 Fitzgerald Mustang to victory in the Xfinity race at Charlotte.Sunday, Team Penske driver Will Power won the Indy 500, which is the 17th win for “The Captain” in the “Great American Race”. Joey Logano also celebrated his 28th birthday the week leading up to the race.

Logano’s history at Charlotte is good with 8 top 10 finishes, 5 top 5 and 1 win.He has also placed 7th or better in the past 6 mile-and-a half races.Qualifying went well with P6 / P3 and P2 for the start of the race.In a pre-race interview on Fox, Logano stated “We want more wins.We are consistent, but not as fast as that #4 car.We are making progress, but we always need a little bit more”.

Every year for the Coke 600 the drivers have the name of a fallen soldier or sailor on their car for the race.On the #22 car was Staff Sgt. Javier Ortiz Rivera, US Marine Corps.Sgt. Rivera’s hometown was Rochester, New York.He was born on 9/7/1984 and killed in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on 11/16/2010.Sgt. Rivera enlisted in the Marines out of high school in 2002 and served four combat tours.

The race was broken up into4 stages (the only one that has 4 all year) of 100 laps each.Logano had pit stall #2.

During pre-race laps, Logano came over the radio and said to “Have a good one, guys.Long race, let’s keep this track position.Logano started on the inside to the #18 of Kyle Busch’s P1 on the outside. By lap 10, Logano was at P3 and complained that every bump in the track was making him looser and that he was struggling mainly with rear grip.By lap 28, Logano had fallen to P9 and said he had no rear entry security.

The first Caution of the night came out at lap 36 when the #3 of Austin Dillon had a tire go down and hit the fence.Logano said he had no grip and could not get into the corners.Crew chief Todd Gordon stated they would make substantial changes on the car during the pit stop, including wedge adjustments.The green flag came out at lap 43 and Logano restarted P11.By lap 69 he was at P17, still complaining of losing overall grip.

The Caution came out at lap 83 for the #4 of Kevin Harvick having a tire go down and hitting the wall.Logano pitted and Gordon stated they would adjust air.The pit crew did a great job and got +2 spots off pit road with Logano restarting P15 when the green flag came out at lap 88.He finished stage one at P13 when it ended at lap 100, with the stage win going to Kyle Busch.

During the Caution between stages, Logano complained that he had felt a vibration during the last part of the stage, and Gordon confirmed that the left rear was loose.Logano pitted at lap 103 and restarted P14 when the green flag came out for stage two at lap 107.

He was at P16 when the Caution came out at lap 114 for the #24 of William Byron hitting the wall.Logano complained that it felt like grip was taken away from the car and pitted on lap 116.This would put the team a set of tires down, but Gordon stated they would glue up a set of scuffs if needed.

The green came out at lap 119 with Logano at P16 but the Caution quickly came out for the #48 of Jimmie Johnson spinning.Logano had almost cleared the wreck when the #20 of Erik Jones clipped the left rear of the #22 and sent it sliding down the track.Logano pitted and the team put “Bear Bond” on the car and another set of tires.This put the #22 at P29 but still on the lead lap when the green flag came out at lap 123.

By lap 140, Logano had moved up to P20. Gordon came over the radio and stated they were going to run this long to try and get back in tire sequence.The leaders started pitting on lap 157, but Gordon told Logano to find a rhythm, they wanted to stay out until lap 180 if possible.Logano scored 12 laps at P1 due to not pitting, but was quickly overtaken and lapped by the lead cars with new tires at lap 173.

Logano finally pitted at lap 187 which put him P26 and one lap down.Gordon stated to just stay ahead of leader Kyle Busch and they would take a wave around at the next Caution.The stage ended at lap 200 with Kyle Busch again winning the stage.Logano was not going to pit during the Caution between stages, but take the wave around to get back on the lead lap.The Bear Bond had come loose so the car was not handling well in the straights as well as the turns.

The green flag for stage 3 came out at lap 207 with Logano at P18.He was at P17 when the Caution came out at lap 226 for the #23 of Gray Gaulding spinning.Logano pitted and restarted P18 when the green came out at lap 230.He was up to P15 when the Caution came out for the #37 of Chris Buescher spinning.Logano again pitted and restarted P14 when the green came out at lap 264.

He was at P11 when the Caution came out at lap 272 for the #42 of Kyle Larson spinning.Logano came over the radio and stated “The balance is awful.I just can’t go fast” Gordon told Logano to do whatever the cars in front of him do not do – so he pitted while the leaders stayed out.This put the #22 P15 when the green came out at lap 277.

He was at P13 when the Caution came out for the #12 of Penske teammate Ryan Blaney blowing an engine.Logano complained that he just couldn’t get speed on the inside lane. He stayed out during the caution and restarted P13 when the green came out at lap 295.Logano was at P11 at lap 295 when the #17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. bumped the #22 into the wall, but stayed out until the Caution came out for the end of the stage at lap 300.Kyle Busch won stage 3.

Logano pitted and the pit crew worked on the damage. He restarted at P22 when the green came out at lap 307.He had moved up to P16 by lap 308, but was at P22 by lap 330 complaining of being tight in center and saying this “was the worst run we’ve had”. Logano pitted at lap 341 and was at P18 once the pit cycle was completed at lap 355.He was lapped by Kyle Busch at lap 357 and finished the race P22.

Kyle Busch won the race, completing his record of having won at every track currently active in the NASCAR circuit.

Logano came over the radio saying “Man.Sorry.I just don’t know.”Gordon replied “We tried lots of things, but the damage didn’t help.

Facebook quote from Joey Logano after the race:"Tough night at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the #cocacola600. We tried making all the needed adjustments on my No. 22 Shell Penzoil Ford, but we just couldn’t find the right speed to give it a solid run tonight. However, we’ll be ready to get after it next week at Pocono Raceway. #TeamJL"

Not The Million But Still a Good ShowingJoey Logano finished P3 in the All-Star Race

NASCAR’s All-Star race is a time for the best of the sport to be celebrated, as well as, a few others to win their way into the chance for a million dollars by either the open race or the fan vote. The rules and set up packages are always changing for this race to make things interesting for the fans. This year was no exception.

Among the most significant updates were engine restrictor plates to reduce horsepower, cars that used a splitter borrowed from the 2014 rules package with a 2018 radiator pan, a six-inch tall spoiler with two ‘ear’ extensions measuring twelve inches tall, and manufacturer-specific air ducts designed to minimize the advantage of lead cars in undisturbed air.

The race was scheduled for four stages. Stage One was scheduled to end at Lap 30, Stage Two at Lap 50, Stage Three at Lap 70, and a final 10 lap shootout. Only green-flag laps counted in the final stage. In a new wrinkle to previous formats, NASCAR Overtime rules were in effect for the end of each stage. Laps between stages under yellow were not counted.

This year’s distance was ten laps longer than the 2017. Unlike previous formats, there were no mandated pit stops, no choice of alternate tire compounds, no eliminations, and no inversions of the running order--all things that had been tried in previous year races.

Logano’s stats for the All-Star race were 8 starts, 6 top 10 finishes, 608 laps lead and one win in 2016.

Mother Nature was again up to her tricks, and all events for Friday were cancelled due to rain. The only event that was completed was the pit stop qualifying. Cars would run two laps, coming down pit road with no speed limit, stopping in their box and taking four tires, then exiting and completing a final lap. There was no chance for practice with the car changes ahead of qualification. Logano had slid through his box the previous two years and hoped for a better outcome this year. His pit stop was 19.9 seconds with a total of 2:10:50 which put him at P10 for the start of the race.

During the pre-race team owner Roger Penske came over the radio and stated, “Good Luck out there." Logano responded with, “Hammer Down” and Penske returned, “We can use it,” referring to the one million dollars. Crew chief Todd Gordon came over and warned, “There is a rain shower within five miles. Possibility it may skirt us. It if doesn’t, there is yellow in it and we may be a while drying the track”.

Logano started the race P10 and was at P9 when the #41 of Kurt Busch spun and brought out the Caution. The race restarted at lap 5 and spotter T. J. Majors told Logano he would try to get him to the outside lane (which seemed to be the preferred lane as far as speed) as soon as possible. By lap 12, Logano had moved up to P3, behind the #78 of Martin Truex Jr. and the #4 of Kevin Harvick but could not pull in front of Truex Jr. At lap 21, Logano had fallen to P5 and Majors stated it was starting to rain up at the spotters’ stand. By lap 28, Majors stated it was raining hard and to be careful, but it did not seem to affect the racing. Logano ended the stage P5 with Harvick in the P1 position. Unlike normal races, there are no points given in the All-Star race, so position is good only on where a driver will restart.

Before yellow flag pitting, Logano complained that the front of the car was sliding out, it did not feel tight. Penske came over channel two and stated he thought Logano looked better on the bottom in turns 3 and 4, and Majors stated that the last lap before the stage end was Logano’s best. Logano asked about the rain and Gordon stated that it just missed the race track and “we should be good the rest of the way”. Logano pitted for 4 tires, but was P11 off pit road. Gordon came over the radio and stated to Logano that he needed to hit the tape mark. It was not shown on TV or any other communication over the radio, so some of us fans speculated that perhaps Logano was too close to the pit wall and changing the left side tires took a lot of time.

Logano started stage two P11 at lap 30 and the cars quickly went three-wide into the turn. By lap 37 he had managed to get the car up to P7 and into the outside (again the preferred) lane. Logano was as high as P5 but finished stage two at P7 at lap 50 with the #18 of Kyle Busch at P1. Logano complained of less grip and “everything is worse” and Gordon stated, “we’ll go in the opposite way and get the rear end back”. Logano took four tires and was P12 off pit road, while teammate Brad Keselowski took two tires and restarted stage three at P1. Prior to the restart, Logano asked about damage to the car, saying that he had “kissed” the wall during that stage. But both Gordon and Majors stated the car was fine. Logano also stated they had one more chase to get pit road right.

Logano was in the preferred lane for this restart and quickly moved up in position and was P9 when the Caution came out at lap 55 for the #95 of Kasey Kahne hitting the wall. Kahne also had light contact with the back right corner of Logano. The team elected to stay out and not pit during the caution, but several cars did pit. Gordon stated those that pitted used their last set of tires and would have to stay out the rest of the race.

Logano restarted P8 at lap 59 and was up to P4 at lap 68 when the #88 of Alex Bowman hit the wall. All the cars that pitted on the last caution stayed out, as well as, the #42 of Kyle Larson and the #19 of Daniel Suarez and while Logano did pit and had a great pit stop, he restarted P13.

Once the restart happened on lap 74, this would be a green/white/checkered NASCAR overtime to end stage 3. Cars were quickly three-wide, and the caution quickly followed when the 41, 2, 78, 14, 18, 6 and 17 were involved in a wreck. Logano came over the radio and stated, “I saw that one coming and I wasn’t going to lift.” Gordon responded, “It’s crazy what you guys will do for a million bucks.” And Logano said, “You ain’t seen nothing yet...I wish we could do this every week.” To which Majors responded, “I’d retire. This is more work than a plate race.”

Logano restarted P9 for another green/white/checkered to end the stage. Gordon stated they were staying out because they were out of tires, and Logano replied, “I guess that makes it easy for you.” Gordon also suggested Logano try to get up to teammate Ryan Blaney on the restart.

Logano started the final 10 laps P8 and was up to P5 but got dumped out of the line and dropped to P10. He started moving back up by diving to the bottom and was a P5 when the caution came out with five laps to go for the #41 of Kyle Larson hitting Logano then spinning through the infield. Logano stated he had smoke in the cockpit and definitely brushed the wall, and Majors stated the right rear of the car was definitely touching the tire. Logano stated that they had to stay out, and Gordon agreed. Logano restarted P4 and ended the race P3 with Harvick winning and getting the one million dollar prize.

Logano came over the radio at the end and stated, “Dang it! Good job everyone; we fought hard. I thought we had enough to get there.”

Quote from Logano on NBC Sports:"We wanted to be up in the lead, and I thought we were in the best spot. We put tires on, and the cars ahead of us didn’t have as good of tires as us. We restarted fifth, and the bottom is just rough down there. We were able to push ahead, and the car in front of me got pushed back and the bottom lane fell apart. I lost like five spots at least and started making them back up and got tangled up and put in the wall and got back and thought I had a decent shot there at the end hooking up with Kevin. Kevin and I always end up together at superspeedway races, and we did again tonight, which is kind of funny.”

Kansas has been a good track for Joey Logano.He had 6 top-5 finishes, 1 pole and 2 wins going into Saturday evening’s race.The Cup cars had only one extended practice due to rain.The practice was stopped for a “weeper” that turned into a geyser when a drill bit was inserted. The track had to bring out a concrete saw (similar to the one used by the #78 team of Martin Truex Jr.two races ago!) to make a channel to drain the water.Luckily, the track itself was not damaged.

Logano was running P6 in practice until cars started making qualifying laps.Logano did not do a qualifying lap during practice.His qualifying positions during the three rounds were P8 / P5 and P9 for the start of the race.

During pre-race laps, Logano came over the radio and stated, “Have a good one.There will be lots of track changes.Let’s get some stage points.”Due to rain during Friday night, there was to be a competition Caution at lap 30.

By lap 12, Logano was up to P3.He came over the radio and stated, “I think I would be free if I wasn’t in dirty air”. The competition Caution came out at lap 30 and Logano pitted at lap 32.He was P5 off pit road, but restarted the race at P4 when the green came out at lap 35 due to the 24 of William Byron getting a pit road penalty.Logano stated he was a little looser this run, and later said he was tight in traffic, loose in clean air.He finished stage one when the green and white checkered came out at lap 80 at P4, with the #12 of teammate Ryan Blaney winning the stage.

Logano pitted on lap 84 and was -1 off pit road.He restarted P5 when the green flag came out for stage two at lap 87.There were 24 cars still on the lead lap.At lap 90 Logano was up to P3 but had dropped to P5 when green flag pit stops started at lap 122.Logano pitted at lap 128 and once all had pitted was at P7.

He had moved to P5 when the green white checkered came out at lap 160 for the end of stage two with the #42 of Kyle Larson winning the stage.Logano pitted at lap 163 and was P5 off pit road. During the Caution, Logano stated to spotter T.J. Majors “The 42 is like a rocket ship.” Majors replied “he rolls the top well.”

Logano stayed out an extra lap once green flag pit stops started at lap 212 and lead a lap before pitting on lap 215.Once all cars had pitted, he was P4 at lap 226 but had dropped to P5 after a battle with the #18 of Kyle Busch.The Caution came out at lap 236 when the #19 of Daniel Suarez got loose and sideswiped the #88 of Alex Bowman.Logano pitted at lap 238 and came off pit road +1 and P4.

The green came out at lap 242 and he was up to P2 when the Caution came out at lap 247 for Larson and Blaney getting into each other and Blaney hitting the wall.Logano stayed out and was in P1 position for the restart. He chose the inside lane for the restart at lap 252 but quickly dropped to P2.

The Caution again came out on lap 252 when the following cars were involved in a wreck: 24 / 1 / 13 / 14 / 31 / 6 / and 37.The red flag came out for almost 15 minutes for clean up.Logano again chose to stay out and restarted P2 when the green flag came out at lap 258.He finished the race P3 with the race win going to the #4 of Kevin Harvick.

Logano is still second in points, with one win, 12 behind points leader Kyle Busch.

Quote from Logano on NBC Sports:“I really just had two bad restarts in a row, which is frustrating to me. As the leader, I feel like I probably took the wrong lane, which cost me the lead in the first place and then the last time I was trying to time him on the bottom, and he just read it really well and kind of stopped me, and then I spun the tires after that. The car behind me wasn’t the best of pushers. He wanted to win the race, too, and I don’t blame him. He’s not my teammate. He’s there to win, too. I just hate being that close. It’s a great run for AAA and Team Penske, but when you’re that close to winning it’s pretty frustrating as a driver and probably as a team we’re all probably a little frustrated right now.”

I was not able to watch the NASCAR Monster Energy Race at Dover this weekend as we were at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the return of IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) racing.We did catch the last stage of the race on Sirius/XM in the car driving home, so I know there was a red flag for rain at lap 320.Joey Logano was running P3 at the time the flag came out.

Once the track was dry and the pits were open, Logano as well as the other leaders pitted, but the #22 had to come back to pit lane to have the lug nuts tightened on the right front wheel, putting him P17 for the restart. Logano managed to work himself up to P13 by the end of the race, with Kevin Harvick winning.Logano is still in second place in points, 22 points behind leader Kyle Busch, who had a DNF when the drive shaft fell out of his car.​Now for our weekend!

IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) racing is quite different from NASCAR racing. I’m going to take some time to explain how the races work, the categories that race and why it can be both confusing and exciting to watch. Much of this information can also be found at imsa.com.

IMSA first became a sanctioning body in 1969 when founded by John Bishop with help from Bill France Sr. The first IMSA race was at Pocono in October of 1969.Many changes have occurred over the years including tracks visited, cars raced, and length of races. IMSA is also the sanctioning body for endurance racing such as the 24 hours of Daytona and the 12 hours of Sebring.

There are seven series that fall under IMSA, any or all can be present and racing during a weekend.All races are based on time and not on laps completed or distance as in NASCAR.

The “premier” event is the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.Competition takes place in three classes. Prototype, GTLE (Le Mans) and GTD (Daytona).

The GT Le Mans (GTLM) cars are the most elite and fastest GT cars on the track. They are based on production models and are engineered to extract the maximum performance possible. The class serves as a true proving ground for leading manufacturers such as BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, and Porsche.

The GT Daytona cars are enhanced technology. They are also based on production model cars but do not feature the same level of aerodynamics and power as the GTLM class cars. The GTD class consists FIA GT3-spec cars and is the only Pro-Am class in the WeatherTech Championship.

What makes the WeatherTech so entertaining (and sometimes confusing) to watch is all three of these classes are on the track at the same time.The Prototypes are much faster than the rest of the field, so after the first few laps, there will be a mix of different cars going different speeds. Podium awards are given to the first three finishers in each of the three categories.

Another thing that makes the WeatherTech different is there is a driving “team”.Depending on the length of the race, you can have 2 or up to 4 drivers changing in and out of the car during the race.Many of the drivers, particularly when the teams are made up of 4 members for the 24 Hours of Daytona, are familiar to NASCAR followers including Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, A.J. Allmendinger, Justin Marks, Kenny Habul, Andy Lally and Juan Pablo Montoya. The drivers must switch at sometime during the race to be included in the points standing.

During an IMSA race weekend, there can be several of the following races also occurring:The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge made up of American-made and imported high-performance sports cars, coupes, hatchbacks and sedans. This series is home to the same cars seen on streets and highways around the world and offers racing in three classes – Grand Sport, the new-for-2018 TCR class, and Street Tuner.The Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda made up of aspiring IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers and veteran drivers. The series features two classes, blending closed-cockpit LMP3 prototypes from a variety of constructors with the longstanding, MPC class that uses the Élan DP02 chassis powered by Mazda engines.Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA (or Canada) by Yokohama for semi-professional and aspiring professional drivers in the Porsche 911 GT3.Lamborghini Super Trofeo experience for professional and amateur drivers in the 620-horsepower Huracán Super Trofeo LP 620-2, the first purpose-built race car by Lamborghini.Ferrari Challenge is designed to allow clients to enjoy themselves and their cars in a competitive and safe environment.

During our weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course there was the Continental Challenge, Lamborghini Trofeo and Porsche GT3 Cup series, culminating in the Weather Tech Championship race.With all races having practice sessions and qualifying, as well as the race, there was something racing on the track Friday, Saturday and Sunday, from early morning until late afternoon (the course is not lighted). I’ve written about Mid-Ohio in a previous post, it is an 11- turn, 2.25 mile road course with a “keyhole”, “esses”, Thunder valley and “carousel” with changes in both banking and elevation.We were camped at turn 8 which is at the end of the esses and near the beginning of Thunder valley and could watch the racing right from our camp site or take chairs and go anywhere on the course to watch.

We are Penske fans, so we were cheering for the two teams fielded by Team Penske in the Prototype division in the Weather Tech Championship.This is a new venture for Team Penske this year.In car #6 is the team of Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya and in car #7 is the team of Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor. I also have two cars I follow in the GTD division, the #44 Audi of Andy Lally and John Potter and the #86 Acura of Katherine Legge and Alvaro Parente.

The two Penske cars were fast from the beginning, with the #7 being driven by Castroneves getting the pole followed by the #6 driven by Cameron for P2.Team Penske had not won in the previous 3 races of the year and were really wanting to do this on the “home track” of Acura (Honda and Acura both are manufactured in Marysville, OH, a little over an hour away from the track and just west of Columbus).

Listening to IMSA radio during the race, there were three areas that were seen as crucial to winning the race, patience in traffic, look after tires, and don’t be fooled by fuel.Pit lane is uphill, so there needs to be enough fuel in the cell to get to the pit box.Another peculiarity of Mid-Ohio is there is a traditional finish line in front of pit road, but the start line is all the way around the keyhole and at the beginning of turn 4.During the race, several cars went off into the grass or “China Beach” (the gravel), but there were no full course yellows during the race, so all pit stops were under green.

By the 9th lap (although the race is not scored on laps, but on time, this race being 2 hours and 40 minutes for 125 laps) the Prototypes were running with the cars of the other two classes.Typically, this is when the blue flag with a yellow cross will be displayed by race control, to let the slower car know that faster cars in the other class are overtaking them and they should let them by.Sometimes, though, they are at a point in the race course where this cannot happen.

When the time was up, Penske was still P1 and P2 in the Prototype division with the #7 taking the win, followed by the #6 eight seconds later.The GTLM division was won by the #912 Porsche of Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoon and the GTD division was won by the #14 Lexus of Dominik Baumann and Kyle Marcelli, with the #86 of Legge and Parente P2 and the #44 of Lally and Potter P10.

If you’d like to see a lot of different cars racing and have a weekend full of non-stop cars on track, I would highly suggest attending an IMSA event.IMSA has been picked up by NBCSports network for the 2019 season, so it will be easier to find races on TV next year (some are on a Fox network this year, but not all). ​

The Penske team historically has been strong at restrictor plate races.Brad Keselowski has won 5 times, Joey Logano had won 4 times and Ryan Blaney has won the Can-Am Duel at Daytona. So hopes were high that one of the three would be in Victory Lane at the end of Talladega, if they could survive the usual carnage that happens during the race.

During practice on Friday, the #1 of Jamie McMurray cut a tire, went sideways, and was t-boned by the #31 of Ryan Newman, causing McMurray to go airborne and flip over 6 times.McMurray was thankfully fine after the wreck, but NASCAR decided to issue smaller diameter holed restrictor plates to the teams to hold the speeds down.NASCAR had also implemented a different aero package for restrictor plate races that left little room for air to go under the car, also hoping to limit the possibility of going airborne.This was the first time this package was in use at Talladega.

On Fox Sports, the statisticians that feed number to the on-camera crew are known as “Bert and Ernie” and they have programmed their computer, known as “Bernie” to give it’s prediction of the race winner based on the numbers.“Bernie” picked Logano.This race at Talladega was Logano’s 300th Cup start and his history at the track includes 5 top 5 finishes, as well as 2 (now 3) wins. During practice, Logano ran P22 and P14, and during the two session qualifying, ran P7 and P9.

The race was broken into the following stages: 55 laps / 110 laps and 188 laps total.Fuel window for Talladega is 44-48 laps, so there would need to be at least one pit stop during the first two laps, and more in the third.During the pre-race laps, team owner Roger Penske told Logano, “Good luck – I’ve got a great view of you from up here”.Logano responded, “Team work and keep ourselves out front all day and win it”.Crew chief Todd Gordon reminded the pit road crew, “Guys, we are really close to the race track today in the pit box, keep your heads up”.

Logano started the race P9 on the inside, but several cars had to go to the rear due to back up cars or unapproved changes.By lap 2, he was at P4, with the lead cars running a single lane.Spotter T.J. Majors let Logano know that all the help for the time being was on the bottom.Logano pitted with the other leaders at lap 12, but 21 cars had not pitted.By lap 22, those that had pitted had caught the tail end of the pack with Keselowski in front of Logano at P18. At lap 43 the rest of the lead lap pitted, making Logano P2 behind Keselowski.

When the Caution came out at lap 55 for the end of stage one, Logano was at P2, with Keselowski winning the stage.The two Penske cars had not passed the #41 of Kurt Busch letting him stay on the lead lap.

Logano pitted on lap 58 and took 2 tires (as did the first 6 lead cars) for a pit stop time of 11.7 seconds and come off pit road P2.During the Caution laps, Gordon asked Logano if he wanted to do the “swap” with Keselowski, having the #2 start on the outside, the #22 on the inside, and letting the #2 come down after the start line.Logano agreed.

The green flag came out at lap 61 and by lap 63 Logano was running P2 with all the Penske cars and the #21 of Paul Menard running in a row.At lap 67, the leaders pitted for fuel only, but Keselowski got a pit road speeding penalty and had to do a pass through.The rest of the field pitted on lap 68 and Logano was at P2 on lap 69.

The first non-stage Caution came at lap 71 when the #20 of Erik Jones, the #1 of Jamie McMurray, the #6 of Trevor Bayne, the #78 of Martin Truex Jr. and the #42 of Kyle Larson were collected in a wreck.During the Caution, Logano asked Majors if the second line had formed yet, and Majors responded no, he would let Logano know when it does.The restart would put Logano at P1 and Menard at P2, so Logano asked if they would do the switch this time.Penske came over the radio and stated that Kurt Busch should “Play ball with you since you let him stay on the lead lap”.

Logano restarted P1 on the outside when the green came out at lap 78 and went to the bottom.Majors stated he was “Pulling the field and making really good laps”.By lap 93, Majors was warning Logano to be ready, that all the cars were in a line on the bottom but would probably be making moves to the outside.Logano ended the second stage P2 again, with Menard winning the stage.Penske told Logano “You did the right thing there (not getting aggressive with Menard)” and Logano went forward and gave Menard a thumbs up for the stage win.

Logano pitted on lap 113 taking 4 tires for a pit time of 14.5 seconds.This lost him -6 spots and put him at P7 for the restart when the green flag came out at lap 116.Logano was at P4 on lap 118 and continued to complain about the #17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. being “right on my door and going to wreck me”.By lap 123, the outside lane was full and Logano had dropped to P8 on the inside and was finally able to get in line at lap 128 but was then at P18.

At lap 129, the Caution came out for debris and Logano pitted at lap 130, took 2 tires and made up +12 spots on pit road. He restarted P6 on the outside at lap 133 when the green flag came out. At lap 135 Logano was at P4 in the middle and by lap 138 was bouncing between P1 – P2 with the #11 of Denny Hamlin.

By lap 142, Logano was at P1 on the bottom and Majors stated, “Stay on the bottom, stay with the plan”.Logano pitted at lap 145 for fuel only and was P1 off.Hamlin and the #19 of Daniel Suarez both received pit road speeding penalties. At lap 146, Majors stated, “Drag them where you want them, they are all lined up”.There were 13 cars on the lead lap at this point.Logano complained of a vibration and asked Gordon if there was a possibility of a tire being loose, Gordon stated they didn’t see anything on the video.

The Caution came out at lap 154 for the #51 of Timmy Hill blowing an engine.Gordon gave Logano the option, and Logano stated they needed to stay out.All the lead lap cars also elected to stay out and not pit.

The green came out at lap 159, with Logano at P1. The “Big One” happened at lap 165 with the following cars getting collected in the wreck – 2 / 3 / 12 / 14 / 18 / 21 / 24 / 34 / 43 / 47 / 48 / 62 / 72 and 95.Keselowski and Blaney were out of the race and Logano stated “Well, there goes my help, but there are still some Fords up front”.

Logano told Majors to ask if the #4 of Kevin Harvick wanted to do the “switch” on the restart.Logano restarted P1 on the outside, Harvick P2 on the inside, at lap 171 when the green came out.At lap 176, Majors warned Logano to “keep an eye on the 4”.At lap 186, Kurt Busch pulled ahead of Harvick for P2 and Logano crossed the finish line P1 at lap 188 for his first win of the season.

Penske came over the radio and stated, “Awesome job, Joey”.Logano was yelling and stated “T.J., You’re the man”

During the interview in Victory Lane, Logano stated:“We had fast Ford team work – not just the Penske cars, but Kurt and Kevin. Feels so good to be back.We knew we were consistent and we knew that win was just around the corner.It feels good to not have to worry about that win to be in the Playoffs.”

The after race interview with Gordon and Penske included the following quotes and answers:Gordon: (on asked about the handling) “The new ride height changes handling versus speed, especially with 40 cars out there.”(on working with other cars) “Joey and Kevin have always seen things the same and worked well together”.(on having T.J Majors as a spotter) “T.J sees everything, has to look at the draft and both he and Joey push each other to be better”.(on the choice to pit early in the cycle) “We wanted to be on the front side of the cycle and stay out of the pack”.

Penske:(on the changes announced to the Ford lineup) “I’m a businessman.In 2017, 55% of Ford sales were trucks and SUVs and the projections for 2018 are 65-70%.There should be no changes in NASCAR as the Mustang will be the star of their lineup”.“I like it when you don’t have cars just driving full out."

NBC Sports quote from Logano:“I guess we got lucky. I have a great spotter. Dale Jr. left me a good one with TJ Majors, who allowed me to make the right decisions. He gives me the picture behind me and tells me where to go. I just hold the steering wheel and make the right moves. It was a great car, very fast. The Fords dominated today. I am so proud to be in a Blue Oval with Roush Yates motors under the hood. That is a huge deal. A big part of our victory today. Teamwork was a big part of it as well. At the end you are racing and don’t know what will happen, you just hope to get in the right lanes at the right time with the right moves. It is always exciting to win at a superspeedway, especially Talladega because you never know you’ve got it until you cross the line. After waiting a full year since our last win, it feels so good to get back in victory lane and get into the playoffs. It feels really good to get those playoff points, and now we will make a run at a championship.”

Logano is now locked into the Playoffs.He is second to Kyle Busch in points (-30) with 2 stage wins and 7 Playoff points.

The next race is Dover.I will not be able to write up a report for the race, as we will be at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH watching IMSA racing and cheering on the two Penske Prototype teams of Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron (#6) and Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor (#7).

Saturday Night and Short Track RacingJoey Logano grabs two stage wins and finishes P4 at Richmond

Saturday night was a return to the scene of Joey Logano’s last Cup win, and his “encumbered” finish from 2017.His numbers at Richmond look very good.Going into Saturday’s race he had scored 7 top 5 finishes, 2 poles and 2 wins.His car livery included the hashtag #VotefortheCaptain on the back of the car, referring to the nomination of team owner Roger Penske to NASCAR’s Hall of Fame.

There were two short practice sessions and Qualifying held on Friday, when conditions were nowhere near to what they would be during the race.Logano was P5 and P21 in the practice sessions and P6 / P3 and qualified P3.During the pre-race laps, he came over the radio and stated, “The sun is going to be a bit of a bear”, but spotter T.J. Majors replied “It’s fine up here!”.Crew chief Todd Gordon stated they would hammer at it all night, and Logano responded, “Win it like we did last year”.

Logano was at P2 by lap 7, stating he was loose in one, tighter in 3 and 4.At lap 38, Logano took over P1.Majors stated there was no one coming, to take care of the car. At lap 78, Logano said he had no rear grip, but held out and won stage one when the green checkered was thrown at lap 100.The team had a 15.5 second pit stop and came off pit road P1. He stated to Fox that the track was going through a transition but the Fords were all running strong.Gordon told Logano he was doing a great job.

The green flag for stage two came out at lap 111 with Logano taking the inside.It seemed all night that the #22 was not great on the short run, but would come back on the long run.With both of the first stages having no Cautions, this played well for Logano.He was down to P5 by lap 139 but again began to make up spots and finished P1 for the stage win at lap 200.There were 17 cars still on the lead lap at this point.Logano pitted at lap 205 with a 16.2 second pit stop and again came off pit road P1.He had stated the rear tires were better this run than the last.When he was interviewed by Fox, he was asked if he could hold off the Stewart-Haas cars and he stated, “On the long run, yeah.”

There was discussion of which lane to choose for the restart, knowing the car was not great at the beginning of a run.Gordon said, “Let’s try the top, we’ll run them down if we need to”.Logano had dropped to P9 when green flag pit stops started and he pitted at lap 272. By the time the pit cycle had finished he was at P6, but was down to P7 when he again green flag pit stopped at lap 330.

Once the cycle finished, Logano was at P5, and had moved down to P6 (with 11 cars on the lead lap) when the first non-stage Caution came out at lap 354 when the #17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was spun by the #72 of Cole Whitt and also collected the #12 of Ryan Blaney in the wreck.Logano pitted at lap 356 and gained +1 off pit road to restart P5 when the green flag came out at lap 361.

He was at P4 when the Caution again came out for the #31 of Ryan Newman smoking, along with the #1 of Jamie McMurray hitting the wall.Logano pitted and (I have not confirmed this) the hose from the pit gun tangled on the right front causing him to lose -6 spots and restart P10.Logano quoted, “We’re in the soup now!”.

At lap 378 the green flag came out with Logano starting P10 on the outside.He was up to P8 when the Caution came out at lap 389 for the#38 of David Ragan hitting the wall.Logano pitted and his crew made up for the last stop, gaining him +4 spots and restarting P4 at lap 394. He was at P5 when the Caution quickly came out at lap 396 for Stenhouse hitting the wall, sending the race into NASCAR overtime.Logano finished the race P4, with the #18 of Kyle Busch winning.

Gordon came over the radio saying, “Good hustle all day” and Logano responding, “Way to get those stage wins.”

Logano is still 2nd in the points standing, -56 behind Kyle Busch.

Joey Logano NBC Sports quote:“We had a really good Shell Pennzoil Ford early in the race and got a couple stage wins early, which was great. We maxed out those points, which is awesome. We just lost the handle on the car and fell back to sixth or so. We had a bad pit stop and lost a bunch of spots and then had a really good pit stop and got them all right back and were able to come home with a top five. I wish I could rerun that. I feel like we can do better if we tried again. I am sure the whole field would say that. I am proud of the speed we showed at Richmond. Just want to be a little better.”

The weather reports were not favorable for a race to happen at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, and the weather reports were accurate.Rain was predicted and while NASCAR started the race, it was called several Red Flags later at lap 204 at 4:10pm ET and restarted (after a snow delay) at 1:33pm ET on Monday.

The stages for the Bristol race were 125 laps / 250 laps and 500 laps.Joey Logano and the #22 car were P15 / P7 and P21 during practice, and qualified P3 / P6 and P10 for the race.Logano was quoted on Fox Sports concerning qualifying saying, “The second or third lap can be fastest.We only made one qualifying run during practice, so we have a little bit of unknown here”.

The start of the race was filled with unknown conditions.It had rained, crew chief Todd Gordon warned of the “green track” during pre-race laps.Logano started P10 and quickly got to P7, but a Caution came out at lap 3 when the 9 / 47 / 78 / 34 / 10 / 19 / 38 and 96 were all involved in a wreck. The #34 of Michael McDowell sustained enough damage to put his car out of the race.

During the Caution, Logano stated there were some raindrops on the car, but not bad.He started P6 when the green flag came out at lap 9, and moved to P4 at lap 10.The Caution again came out at lap 17 when the 47 of A.J. Allmendinger spun into the 1 of Jamie McMurray.During the Caution, spotter T.J. Majors stated the rain was picking up some.

The green flag came out at lap 22 with Logano starting P4 and he was at P2 by lap 23.At lap 43 Majors warned Logano the rain was coming down hard and at lap 45 a Caution, followed by a red flag for weather, at lap 49 was thrown.The red flag lasted 25 minutes and this was to be the Competition Caution.Logano pitted at lap 55 and lost ground on the pit stop (issueswith lug nuts) restarting P4 when the green flag came out at lap 60.

Logano was concerned about nose damage to the car from when the #17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun at lap 61 bringing out another Caution, but both Majors and Gordon stated just scratches could be seen.Logano restarted P2 at lap 67 when the green flag came out, and the three Penske drivers, along with the #21 of Paul Menard, were running P1 through P4.

By lap 90, Logano stated his rear grip was going away and was down to P5 when the Caution came out for a wreck involving the #12 of leader Ryan Blaney (who was out of the race afterwards) with the 5 / 37 / 1 and 6.A red flag was thrown for clean up lasting 7 minutes.Logano pitted at lap 121 and restarted P9 when the green flag came out for one lap to end the stage.Logano ended the stage P13 with teammate Brad Keselowski in the #2 winning the stage.

Logano did not pit during the Caution between stages and restarted P7 when the green flag came out at lap 134.He was at P9 when the Caution came out at lap 154 when the #6 of Trevor Bayne hit the wall.Gordon made a too late call to pit so Logano stayed out during the Caution.Majors asked Logano if he had his wipers on, and Logano responded, “you know it is raining pretty good when you go in a corner and it comes into the car”.

NASCAR threw the red flag for weather at lap 165 lasting 30 minutes.The green flag came out at lap 168 with Logano at P6.He went as high as P3 but was back at P6 with some right side damage from tapping the wall when the Caution then red flag again came out for weather at lap 204.With conditions predicted, the race was stopped for the day and the cars parked until Monday.

Racing was to resume at 1:00pm Monday, but it was sleeting and the yellow did not come out until 1:33pm.NASCAR had put another coat of PJ1 (aka sticky stuff) down on the track and stated that teams would get an additional set of tires.During the wait, while the drivers were in the cars, Majors asked Logano, “Did you hear about the light bulb party?”Logano came back with, “What the hell, is that the best you’ve got?”Majors replied, “It was lit! – that’s from my daughter.”

Once the cars started rolling, Logano informed Majors and Gordon that there was still a lot of rubber chunked in the bottom of the track.Majors replied, “I need goggles, this stuff is hitting me in the eyes”.Logano pitted lap 212, while the #42 of Kyle Larson and #31 of Ryan Newman stayed out, and Keselowski took 2 tires only.

When the green was thrown at lap 217, Logano restarted P14 and took until lap 226 to get down into the lower lane at P17.He finished the stage at lap 250 P16 with Keselowski again winning the stage.Logano pitted at lap 254 and restarted P11 at lap 261 when the green came out for the final stage. He was at P11 when the Caution came out at lap 324 for Larson spinning.Newman tapped Logano into the wall and the 22 has some right rear damage.He pitted for repairs and restarted P14 when the green came out on lap 329.

Logano was P9 when the Caution came out at lap 353 when the 55 of Reed Sorenson hit the wall.He pitted at lap 359 and restarted P7 at lap 365 when the green flag came out. The Caution again came out at lap 390 for snow and Logano pitted at lap 392.

The green came out at lap 400 with Logano restarting P14.He steadily moved up in position and was at P7 when a tire went down on Keselowski’s car at lap 469, throwing him into the wall and bringing out a Caution.Logano pitted at lap 473 and restarted P7 at lap 478 when the green flag came out. During the restart, there was contact between Logano and Newman and the 22 had some tire rub.

Logano finished the race P9. The #18 of Kyle Busch won the race for the second week in a row.

Logano is still second in overall points, with Kyle Busch ahead by 59 points.

Next week’s race will be at Richmond, the site of Logano’s last win, even though that was later penalized.

For the second week in a row, Mother Nature decided to have fun with NASCAR.Friday saw temperatures in the upper 80’s with lightning and thunderstorms, while Saturday was down into the 30s with drizzle and Sunday was highs in the 50’s.Qualifying for Cup was cancelled after the first round, and many cars did not get to do a qualifying lap as they were still in the inspection line.Practice on Saturday was also rain shortened.Joey Logano and the #22 team were P16 / P7 and P24 for practice, and qualified P7 for the start of the race.

Former NFL star Emmitt Smith brought his “Team 22” kids to the track for them to watch the race. The kids were treated to some behind the scenes experiences and Smith watched the race on the #22 box. Logano’s team was racing with sad hearts as one of the “Team Logano” members, Ashleigh Hunt, lost her battle with cancer.

The stages for the race were 85 / 170 and 334 laps, with fuel window of 56-62 laps.Tire wear, even with this being a newly (2 years old) paved track was a worry due to downforce on the right front tire.

The Penske team was looking for some great things in the race.Ryan Blaney had driven the #22 Fitzgerald Mustang to Victory Lane on Saturday during the Xfinity race, and Josef Newgarden had also put the #1 Verizon car in Victory Lane late Saturday night at the Indy race in Phoenix. During pre-race laps, owner Roger Penske told Logano good luck, and he responded “We’ve got a great team and a pretty good car!”.

Logano had moved to P6 when the Caution quickly came out on lap 2 for the #88 of Alex Bowman which spun, also collecting the #21 of Paul Menard, the #15 of Ross Chastain, the #19 of Daniel Suarez, andthe #3 of Austin Dillon.All were able to eventually continue the race for a time.

The green came out on lap 7 with Logano at P5.He moved to P4 at lap 8, but back to P5 at lap 38.Green flag pit stops started at lap 42, with Logano pitting at lap 44.By the time the pit cycle had finished at lap 56, Logano was running P5.The Caution came out at lap 80 for the #78 of Martin Truex Jr. hitting the wall, and the stage ended under Caution, with Logano P4 and the #4 of Kevin Harvick winning stage 1.Before pitting between the stages, Logano stated to crew chief Todd Gordon that he was ok in turns 1 and 2, but had lost a lot in turns 3 and 4.Gordon let Logano know that tire wear so far looked good.

Logano started stage 2 P5 when the green came out on lap 90.He was running the same spot when the Caution came out at lap 126 for the #42 of Kyle Larson blowing a tire and hitting the wall.Logano pitted under Caution and came out +1 and restarted the race at P3 when the Green came out at lap 134.By lap 159, Logano was complaining of a vibration but Gordon stated, “Just let me know if it gets any worse”.

The Caution came out at lap 170 for the end of stage 2 with Logano P3 and the #18 of Kyle Busch winning the stage.Before pitting, Gordon stated it seemed to be getting a little brighter weather wise, and Logano stated the grip was beginning to go away.Logano pitted on lap 173 and had a long pit stop due to a wedge adjustment.He restarted P7 at lap 177 when the green flag came out.

A Caution immediately came out on lap 178 when the #48 of Jimmie Johnson spun, collecting the #2 of Brad Keselowski, the #11 of Denny Hamlin, the #6 of Trevor Bayne, the #10 of Aric Almirola, the#38 of David Ragan and the #3 of Dillion (for the second time).Johnson, Keselowski, Hamlin and Almirola were all out of the race.There was red flag for clean up of approx. 10 minutes.The green flag came out at lap 183 with Logano P6 and eleven cars still on the lead lap.Logano bounced between P4 and P5 and was at P5 when green flag pitting began on lap 230. The Caution came out at lap 239 for Menard hitting the wall.Logano restarted P5 when the green came out at lap 240.The Caution again came out at lap 249 when Bayne and the #95 of Kasey Kahne wrecked.Logano pitted during the Caution while the leaders stayed out.He restarted P9 when the green came out at lap 255.

Logano was up to P5 when green flag pit stops started at lap 290.Logano pitted at lap 291.The Caution again came out when the #31 of Ryan Newman hit the wall.Logano was still a lap down from pitting so took the wave around and restarted P9 when the green came out at lap 311.

Logano finished the race P6.“We’re consistent – third P5/P6 in a row”.Kyle Busch won the race.

“Consistent, We are Consistent.”A day late due to snow, Joey Logano finishes P6 at Martinsville

Due to over 6 inches of snow falling on Martinsville Speedway late Saturday into Sunday, both the Camping World Truck series race and the Monster Energy Cup series race were cancelled and run on Monday.The Cup cars did get two practice sessions in on Saturday before the weather turned, but did not qualify. Positions were done by owner points.

The stages for Martinsville are broken down into 130 / 260 and 500 laps.Due to the weather issues, a competition Caution was to be called at lap 50.The fuel window for Martinsville is 150-160 laps, so green flag pit stops would only be necessary during stage 3 if no Cautions happened.

During the two practice sessions, the #22 of Joey Logano ran P9 and P11.The car started P3 due to owners points, with the #2 of Brad Keselowski starting P4 and the #12 of Ryan Blaney starting P5.

Logano complained he was loose off in entry at the beginning of the race.He had dropped to P4 by lap 8.At lap 20 he stated he was starting to get tighter and moved back to P3, but at lap 46 was at P4.When the competition Caution came out at lap 50 he stated to crew chief Todd Gordon “I need more drive off.” Due to making the adjustments, the #22 restarted P8 when the green flag came out at lap 56.

It took until lap 58 to get back to the inside line (the preferred line for running at Martinsville).Logano finished the stage P9 when the Caution came out at lap 130.The #11 of Denny Hamlin won the stage. During pit stops, Logano stated the “great entry we had in practice is gone”.The 22 pit crew was in stellar shape again, gaining Logano positions at almost every stop.He came off pit road +2 and restarted the race at P7 when the green flag came out at lap 142.

The second stage was just basic Martinsville racing with no Cautions.The Caution for the end of the stage came out at lap 260 with Logano at P9 and teammate Blaney winning the stage.There were 15 cars on the lead lap at the end of the stage.Logano pitted stating the car still wasn’t taking off but he was mainly lacking on exit.

The pit crew put wedge in the rear to help and gained +1 spots having Logano start P8 when the green flag came out at lap 271. He was back in the lower line at lap 272 and had dropped to P11 at lap 298, stating the “take off is better, but the drive off is worse”.Logano had moved down to P13 and was fighting for quite a while to move to P12 which he did at lap 329.He moved to P11 at lap 349 but by lap 367 he complained he was losing the drive off.

The Caution came out at lap 384 when the #3 of Austin Dillon tapped the #1 of Jamie McMurray throwing McMurray into the wall.Logano pitted and was +1 off pit road but with pit road penalties restarted P7 when the green flag came out at lap 391.He was at P9 on lap 393 but slowly moved up to P6 by lap 458.If the race had been longer, Logano’s car was making progress on the #4 of Kevin Harvick running P5, but there just weren’t enough laps in the race to catch up.

Logano finished the race P6 with the #14 of Clint Bowyer winning, breaking a 190 race losing streak for Bowyer.

Logano came over the radio and stated, “You made it better at the end, it was just a little too late.Consistent, we are consistent" (the title of this article).

Logano is 4th in overall points standing (not counting the wins of drivers who have already locked into the playoffs) with 252 points.

Quote from Joey Logano on NBC Sports:“At the start of the race we may have made some bad changes over the snow break and weren’t really good compared to where we were in practice. The team made some good adjustments and got to the end there and were probably a third-place car, but it was too little, too late to get back up there; I drove back up to sixth. I was catching up to fifth and wanted a top-five stat because it at least sounds a little better than sixth, but we’ve been kind of stuck there in sixth or seventh no matter where we’re at right now, so we’ve got to find a little bit more speed. I’m proud of the fight and proud of everyone that keeps building these good, solid, consistent cars. Pit road is always consistent, so that’s nice. We’ve just got to go a little faster.”

Joey Logano did double duty at Fontana, driving both the #22 Xfinity car on Saturday and his #22 Cup car on Sunday.He won the race on Saturday, so hopes were high that maybe he would be able to pull off the sweep.

Qualifying for the Cup race was a mess on Friday.Only 21 cars had passed through inspection by the time qualifying started.Logano placed P9 / P6 and P6 in qualifying, but qualifying created a dilemma for those cars that did run vs. those that did not.Normally, the cars start the race on the same tires they qualify on.And Fontana is very rough on tires. This would mean that top 12 cars had 3 laps (6 if you count warmup) on their tires, while those that didn’t qualify would start the race on fresh tires.

NASCAR made the decision on Friday night that the teams that ran qualifying could purchase another set of tires and start on fresh tires.The total race allotment of tires for the teams stayed the same.Logano was quoted on Motorsports.com about the situation:“NASCAR had to do something there.Last year we did not get through tech here before qualifying and started 37th.We were 11th three laps into the race. You can imagine starting 25th on brand new tires; you are going to be racing for the lead four laps into the race.I don’t think cars that don’t make it through tech should have an advantage on the rest of the field.It’s kind of backwards of what it should be.”

The stages for Fontana were broken up at 60 / 120 / and 200 laps.This would mean green flag pit stops during all three stages.

Logano came over the radio during the pre-race laps stating “Let’s have a good one.We’ll have a lot of pit stops today (the 22 crew has been stellar all year)”Crew chief Todd Gordon reminded Logano he would be using the same stall (3 from the front) as during the Xfinity race the day before.The #22 moved from P6 to P4 on lap one, but he was complaining that the car was pretty tight.Logano was at P6 when he was the first to pit on lap 25.

Once pit stops were cycled through, he was running P3, and stated he felt more connected to the track now.The 22 was running P5 when the Caution came out at lap 37 after the #4 of Kevin Harvick got into the #42 of Kyle Larson, causing Harvick to slam the wall.Logano pitted and came out P3.The 22 crew continued to outperform all day, gaining spots on almost every pit stop and having the fastest 4 tire pit stop of 13.7 seconds of all crews during the day.

Logano restarted the race P3 when the green came out on lap 42 and continued to converse with spotter T.J. Majors during the race about where others were making speed.Majors continued throughout the race to call out lanes where others seemed to be making ground. For a few laps, Logano fought back and forth for the P3/P4 position with teammate Brad Keselowski’s #2 car, but finished the stage at lap 60 in P3.The #78 of Martin Truex. Jr won Stage one.

Logano pitted on lap 63 and his crew again gained him +2 spots off pit road, putting the #22 at P1 for the start of stage two on lap 66.Logano’s concerns to his crew were that he needed to be better in turn 3, that he gets loose on the corner if he ran the top. By lap 72Logano had fallen to P2 and was a P3 when he green flag pitted at lap 88 (Larson had pitted one lap earlier).Once the pit cycle was finished at lap 93, the #22 was a P3, but fell to P4 on lap 101 and was running this position when the Caution came out at lap 109 when the #6 of Trevor Bayne got into the wall.

Logano complained that as time goes on, his entry and exit were going away.He pitted on lap 110 and again, the 22 pit crew gained him +1 spot off pit road.Majors stated it was going to be a quick 7 lap dash to the end of stage two.Logano started P3 when the green flag came out at lap 113 but finished the stage at P6 when the Caution came out at lap 120.Truex Jr. again won the stage.

Logano pitted at lap 123, and the 22 crew gained him +2 spots off pit road.Gordon and Logano were discussing strategy during the Caution and Logano came over the radio and stated, “You don’t have to tell me the plan, I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”The #22 started P4 when the green came out at lap 126 (the outside lane was much better for restarts than the inside for the entire race).

A Caution quickly came out at lap 128 when the #38 of David Ragan hit the wall.Logano pitted on lap 130 and was +1 off pit road.However the#95 of Kasey Kahne stayed out and did not pit, while the #24 of William Byron only took 2 tires, which put Logano P4 for the restart on lap 132.Logano was running P5 at lap 152 when the #32 of Matt DiBenedetto hit the wall, but the #32 was able to get to pit lane with no Caution coming out.

Green flag pit stops started at lap 160, with Logano pitting on lap 161.He was at P5 once the cycle was complete. At lap 190 the #37 of Chris Buescher was smoking, but he was able to get to pit road without a Caution coming out.

Logano ended the day P5.Truex Jr. won the race.Gordon came over the radio and stated, “Way to dig all day”.Logano replied, “Good job making it better all day.And great job on pit road. Holy Cow!”

Logano is now 3rd in the points standing with 197, behind leader Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch.

The week started out good for the #22 team. When the penalties for last week's Las Vegas race were handed out, points were taken away from the #4 team of Kevin Harvick for an L1 infraction (window brace and side skirt) and Joey Logano was again in the lead on points.

The car was ok in practice with P6 / P9 and P18, and qualifying with P8 / P9 and final spot for starting the race as P5.It had rained on Saturday (the Xfinity race had two red flag rain delays) so the track was green. Sunday was hot and typical of Phoenix weather.There was to be a competition Caution at lap 35.

During the pre-race laps, Logano came over the radio and stated, “Keep doing what you are doing on pit road!That is helping a lot!”.

Logano started P5 on the outside, but started slipping back in spots quickly. Tire falloff was occurring fast, with times going from the 40s to 60s by lap 9.At lap 21, Logano was running P11 and complained over the radio that when there was a car behind him, he was just awful and out of control.

The first Caution of the day came out at lap 24 when the 72 of Corey LaJoie blew an engine.Spotter T.J. Majors stated this would be the competition caution, so all the cars would be pitting. Logano pitted for 4 tires and fuel, and his pit crew again did a fantastic job gaining him +4 spots. He restarted P7 when the green flag came out on lap 33.The rest of the stage was fairly uneventful for Logano with him finishing P9 when the Caution for the stage came out at lap 75.The stage was won by the 18 of Kyle Busch.

Logano pitted and came off pit road P9.Crew chief Todd Gordon came over the radio and stated they had added a wedge adjustment and that brakes and tires looked great.Logano restarted P8 when the green flag came out at lap 83.He stated he was better in the corners and entry now, and spotter Majors said Logano looked much more stable.At lap 121, he was running P6 when the Caution came out for the 42 of Kyle Larson getting loose and spinning.Logano pitted on lap 123, but lost -6 spots on pit road for a major adjustment on the car. Gordon reminded Logano that adjustments take time now with the lower number of crew over the wall.

Logano restarted P12 when the green came out on lap 126.He had moved up to P10 by lap 128, but got very loose in traffic and slid up the raceway, saving the car but falling to P12. Logano had dropped to P15 when the Caution came out at lap 145 for the 37 of Chris Buescher having a flat.Logano pitted the car and Gordon stated they were “undoing” what they did on the last change.There was a quick restart at lap 148 with Logano now P18. He ended stage two in that spot at lap 150 when the Caution came out for the end of the stage.The stage was won by the 41 of Kurt Busch.

Logano stayed out while others pitted and started P11 when the green came out at lap 158 to start stage 3. Gordon stated there were no concerns with wheel temperature (the cars are on the brakes a lot at Phoenix, so there is always a worry that the “bead” of the tire seal may melt).On lap 161, Loganowas running P15 when the 6 of Trevor Bayne came down and hit the right front of the 22 car.Majors came over the radio and stated there was a lot of tire rubber and a dent at 2 o’clock on the front edge of the car, but it looked fine.

Logano was running P14 when the Caution came out when the 21 of Paul Menard slammed the rear of his car into the wall. Logano pitted and restarted P14 when the green flag came out on lap 198. Gordon reminded Logano that they would need to make one more pit stop to finish the race.

This stage of the race, the 22 car just kept losing spots.Logano was at P20 when green flag pit stops began at lap 238.He pitted at lap 261, but the 31 of Ryan Newman and the 2 of teammate Brad Keselowski stayed out, causing most of the other cars including Logano to be a lap down.Keselowski pitted at lap 282, putting Logano at P19, but he was lapped by the 4 of Kevin Harvick on lap 288, so would be a lap down and in the beneficiary position once Newman pitted.Newman pitted on lap 291.

The beneficiary position bounced back and forth a few times, but with no further cautions if didn’t matter in the race results.Logano finished the race P19, one lap down.Harvick won the race.

Joey Logano came over the radio and stated the title of my report, “Ugh!That was Ugly”. Gordon asked if the last run was any better and Logano stated it was “still awful”.Penske had an overall mediocre day, with teammates Keselowski finishing P15 and the 12 of Ryan Blaney finishing P16.

This weekend is the last in the “West Coast Swing” with a visit to Fontana in California.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway has become an important track this year with it now having a second race that falls in the Playoffs.While teams are still learning the new inspect equipment, new pit stop regulations, and new required air impact wrench, having a good run this weekend would give teams good notes for the fall race.

The #22 had middle of the pack speed during practice runs, turning in a P14, P13 and P9.During qualifying, Logano made it to the final twelve with qualifying laps of P19, P4 and qualifying P10.Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney in the #12 qualified P1 for his first pole position after moving over from the Wood Brothers.

Las Vegas is a mile and a half speedway.The three race segments were 80 / 160 and 267 laps.Since the fuel window for Las Vegas is about 56-60 miles, and tire wear off is critical, green flag pit stops were expected.The temperatures were in the high 50s, and the wind had died down from Saturday.

Listening to the radio chatter via NASCAR Race View is one of my highlights while watching the race.One could tell the team was in great spirits when Logano asked spotter T.J. Majors if he was “up there” and T. J. responded “Oh, just working on my tan!”I also like listening to the communication as it lets me know what Logano, crew chief Todd Gordon and Majors are thinking on car performance.

Logano started P10 on the outside and was at that spot at lap 6 when he came over the radio letting Todd Gordon know he took off tight, but the car was “coming to me now”.At lap 12, he moved to P9 and by lap 27 Logano was up to P7.Gordon said the 22 was running decent lap times, but Logano stated he was getting tight in turns 3 and 4.

Logano green flag pitted at lap 37.The 22 pit crew was excellent all day, almost always picking up a spot or two on pit road and having no issues with the new rules and impact wrench, unlike other teams.It took a while for all the cars to cycle through their pit stops, but by lap 50, Logano was at P8 and by lap 54 was at P6.T.J. Majors complimented Logano’s driving throughout the race as did Todd Gordon, telling him that his laps were great and often as fast as the lead cars.At lap 69, T. J came over channel 2 and told Todd that Joey “was finding his rhythm again”. Logano ended stage one when the Caution came out, at P5 with the 4 of Kevin Harvick winning the stage.

Logano pitted at lap 83 and his pit crew again gained him spots off pit road, +1 for P4.While driving around during the Caution, Logano radioed that there was a lot of debris on the back stretch, and he must not have been the only driver to say so as NASCAR held up the restart for another lap to clear the track. Logano restarted at lap 88 when the green flag came out, P4 on the outside.

Logano soon asked for some information about the cars behind him, but Majors came over the radio and stated that Logano “was driving away, no worries. I’ll let you know if there is anything different”. Gordon chimed in with “you are a 10th better than either side”. At lap 105, Majors warned that the 34 of Michael McDowell was getting ready to blow an engine, but McDowell managed to get the car to the apron so the green stayed out.

At lap 114, Logano stated the car was loose in, tight center.Logano started the round of green flag pit stops on lap 121, and his pit crew again came through, getting him +2 spots off pit road. At lap 125 after the pit cycle was complete, Logano was in the P2 spot. At lap 134, Logano was passed by the 21 of teammate Ryan Blaney and on lap 153, was passed by the 41 of Kyle Larson. Logano ended the stage at lap 160 when the Caution came out P4, with the 4 of Kevin Harvick again winning the stage.

Logano pitted at lap 163, and his pit crew again did a fantastic job, getting +3 spots to put him at P1.Mike Joy stated on Fox that was the fastest pit stop so far.Logano started on the outside with teammate Ryan Blaney behind.Unfortunately, the Caution came out at lap 176 for the 1 of Jamie McMurray hitting the wall. Logano pitted again, but took only 2 tires this time, while the 78 of Martin Truex Jr. did not pit, of the leaders.

Logano started P2 on the outside at lap 182 when the green came out, but the Caution quickly came out at lap 183 when the 41 of Kurt Busch became loose and slid up the track into the 9 of Chase Elliott.Truex Jr. then pitted, putting Logano again at P1. Logano, Majors and Gordon went back and forth on starting top or bottom, with Logano quipping when he didn’t get an answer “I guess I’m on my own!” Majors is also apparently as much of a fan of “Speedy Dry” as Logano’s past spotter, Tab Boyd was. Majors was complaining about the amount being put on the track.

Logano restarted P1 on the outside at lap 194, but having two older tires soon led to him falling in the field.He was at P6 when he green flag pitted at lap 228.After pit stops filtered through, Logano was P7 at lap 236 and ended the day at lap 267 at this spot.The 4 of Kevin Harvick continued to dominate by winning the race.

Joey Logano offloaded the 22 Shell / Penzoil Ford in good shape.He was P9 and P5 for the two practices.Qualifying did not go quite so well, as he was P9 in the first round and P16 in the second so he didn’t advance to the third round.

Atlanta Motor Speedway was the first mile and a half racetrack for the 2018 season and set up.Unfortunately it rained all Sunday morning, and with track drying, the race start was postponed until 3:30pm.There would be a competition Caution at lap 30 due to the rain.Stages were lap 85 / 170 / 325.

During pre race laps, spotter T.J. Majors warned Logano that the track still looked a bit wet up near the wall.After the drop of the green flag, Logano chose to run the bottom and was up to P11 when the competition Caution came out at lap 30.Joey was complaining that the car was “ok for a couple of laps, then it gets tight”.Logano pitted for four tires and fuel and his crew team got him +4 spots off of pit road.

He startedP7 when the green flag came out at lap 35 and moved up to P3 at lap 37, but was down to P8 by lap 62. Logano came over the radio warning of a possible tire going down, but came back several laps later and stated it was just a brake vibrating.Logano finished the stage at P10 at lap 85, with the stage one win going to Kevin Harvick.

Logano pitted at lap 89 for tires, fuel and adjustments on both the chassis and air pressure. During the pit stops, Kevin Harvick’s team had issues with the NASCAR required airgun and wound up restarting P19.Several other teams would have issues with the gun during the race.Logano’s team gained one spot and he restarted P9 when the green flag came out for stage two at lap 93. Logano moved to P8 on lap 99 and Majors told him, “That was an impressive little move”.By lap 107, Logano was passed by Harvick and he stated, “that’s unbelievable!”

Logano green flag pit stopped at lap 126 and after the pit cycle had gone through was at P9 at lap 134.At lap 158, the Caution came out for the 48 of Jimmie Johnson spinning. Logano pitted on lap 160 and his pit crew again gained him +2 spots.He restarted P7 when the green flag came out on lap 163 and finished P4 when the Caution came out at lap 170 for the end of stage two.Fellow Penske teammate Brad Keselowski won the stage.

Logano pitted at lap 173 and his pit crew continued their excellent work by gaining him +2 spots off pit road. Logano asked about the weather (the race would be official if called since it had completed 2 stages) and crew chief Todd Gordonstated it looked ok.

Logano started P2 when the green flag came out for stage three at lap 177, but had dropped down to P7 by lap 195.Cars were already pitting, but Todd Gordon stated they were going to go long and did not pit until lap 226.This put Logano at P16, one lap down. By lap238 he was at P12 and back on the lead lap.

He was at P10 when green flag pit stops again started, but again Logano, as well as, Harvick chose to stay out. Gordon told Logano he was driving in a good rhythm.The 22 finally pitted at lap 275 which put him at P15, one lap down.Others started pitting again at lap 284, which put Logano at P4 when the Caution came out at lap 297 with the 6 of Trevor Bayne blowing an engine.During the “smoke screen” from the car, the 17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was rear ended by the 43 of Darrel Wallace Jr.

Logano pitted at lap 300 and restarted P4 when the green flag came out at lap 304. He finished the race P6, with Kevin Harvick winning.

22 crew changing it up, getting on an opposite strategy from most of the race leaders. Logano is currently one lap down but closing on the race leader with his fresher tires. | #NASCAR#FoHQT500pic.twitter.com/Y95XeZegjr

This is it! The weeks we’ve been waiting for since November. Speedweeks with the Clash, the Duels, and culminating in the “Super Bowl” of NASCAR – the Daytona 500.

The ClashThe Clash is a race that the drivers “earn” a spot in by either being in the Playoffs the year before, having won a pole last year, being a previous Clash winner, or having won a past Daytona 500. Joey Loganoqualified on several of those criteria. There were 17 cars entered in the Clash. Starting position was done by crew chief draw, and Logano’s crew chief drew a starting position of P3.Coming into the Clash, several of the changes for the 2018 season were being discussed. What would the new, lower downforce package do to car handling, and what would pit stop times be with the 5 man crew and required new air gun for all pits.

Unfortunately, we were not home during the race, so I cannot give you my usual play by play commentary. Teammate Brad Keselowski won the Clash, with Logano coming in P2.

Logano was quoted by Pete Pistone on MRN“The draft was a lot different with the bigger spoilers and the lower ride heights,” Joey Logano said after his second-place finish in Sunday’s Clash. “That changes the pack quite a bit. But I thought the handling was fairly similar. The track bar adjuster is in there to kind of fix a lot of balance issues, to a certain extent at least.”

The DuelsThe Duels is the second racing event of Speed Weeks. The top two Daytona 500 qualifiers get P1 and P2 for the start of the Daytona 500, as well as the P1 position in their respective Duel race. There are two races of 60 laps, with drivers put into each race based on their qualifying times. Group one fills the “odd” number of cars for the 500, group two, the even number. Since there were 40 cars entered for the 500, there are 20 cars per duel and points are awarded for finishing spot.

Besides all the changes to the cars and pit road, Joey Logano had another change. Long time spotter Tab Boyd moved to the 24 and Logano’s new spotter is T. J. Majors, Dale Earnhardt Jr’s former spotter. It took me some getting used to T.J.’s style, as I’m sure it did Logano and Gordon. To help with the communication, supposedly Majors and Logano sat and rewatched several races including last year’s 500 with Majors “calling” it.

Logano quickly took the lead in his Duel and was P1 by lap 2. By lap 3, there were 12 cars single file running the top line.

The first Caution of the race came out at lap 8 when the 48 of Jimmie Johnson blew a tire and hit the 10 and 19. The 22 pitted for fuel only and Logano started on the bottom in P1, with teammate Ryan Blaney on the outside. The Green flag came out at lap 14. Blaney let Logano clear up and the Penske cars were running P1, 2 and 3.​The next Caution came out at lap 38 when the 24 spun after the 17 took air off the back (this would become a recurring theme during the week). Logano stayed out and took the outside for the start. The Green flag came out at lap 42 and again the Penske cars were running P1, 2 and 3.

Another Caution came out at lap 47 when the 92 spun after the 17 took air off of the back. Logano stayed out. Todd Gordon came over the radio and stated how well that last group of laps were executed.

The Green flag came out at lap 51. Logano was P1, but was passed by Ryan Blaney on lap 57, then the Caution came out when Keselowski hit the wall. This put the race into NASCAR overtime, with Blaney winning and Logano P2. This would put the 22 at P5 for the start of the Daytona 500.

Daytona 500Logano started P5 based on his result in the Duels. During the pre-race laps, Team Owner Roger Penske told Logano to have a “Good race” and Logano responded “We know what to do, we just need to execute”. Spotter T.J. Majors stated “I’ll try to get you up there as soon as I can” and Logano responded “Let’s not do anything too crazy until the end”.

After the green flag, Logano quickly moved to P3, but two lines rapidly formed and he dropped down to P6/P7. He tried the middle line but nothing formed with him and he dropped to P10. A Caution quickly came out at lap 8 when the 23 blew a tire. Logano pitted at lap 10 and restarted P8 at when the green flag came out at lap 12. During the next 20 or so laps, Logano bounced up and down in spots and was at P3 with the top cars running in a line when the 18 of Kyle Busch had to pit for a flat tire. Todd Gordon stated that Goodyear was concerned that drivers were being too aggressive for the tires and that they were also borderline on fuel to the end of the stage. Logano said he wasn’t being aggressive on tires and would save all he could.

Logano took the lead at lap 47 and was in that position when the Caution came out at lap 50 for the 18 having another tire go down. Logano pitted, and restarted P12, but quickly pitted again when he became concerned that he may have had a tire going down due to contact with the 42. This caused the 22 to be a lap down, but it also helped when another Caution came out at lap 59 when the 20 / 13 / 19 / 48 / 24 and 42 wrecked. The stage ended at lap 60 under a Caution with the 41 of Kurt Busch winning the stage.

Crew Chief Todd Gordon brought the 22 to pit road several times during the Caution to make sure the car was fixed correctly. Logano restarted the second car a lap down when the Green came out on lap 66 for the next stage. He quickly was the first car a lap down and in the free pass (or lucky dog) position.

The Caution came out at lap 92 when the 24 hit the wall but, just before this happened, the 23 was lapped which put Logano the second car a lap down and not in the free pass position. He pitted on lap 94 and when the Green flag came out at lap 96 was back in the free pass position.

A Caution came out at lap 101 when the 9 / 7 / 4 / and 95 were involved in a wreck. This put Logano back on the lead lap. He pitted two times to fix a brace on the left rear of the car. Logano started P23 when the Green came out at lap 108 and by lap 120, he was P3 behind the 12 of Blaney and the 21 of Paul Menard. The Caution came out at lap 120 for the end of stage two with Logano P3. Ryan Blaney won the stage.

Logano pitted and came off pit road P2. There was discussion over the radio of “doing the deal” with Blaney starting on the outside and Logano letting him in ahead to keep P1. At this point, there were 22 cars still on the lead lap and Gordon warned “It will get anxious at some point” with Majors responding “Oh, I know”.

Things were so quiet during the next 30 laps or so that at one point, Gordon came over the radio and teased Majors about taking an ice cream break. Majors responded “Oh, I’m just enjoying the sunset”. At lap 171 Logano did a green flag pit stop but had issues with his brakes and had to do a drive through penalty for speeding in loop one on pit road. This put him at P15 (there were currently 15 cars on the lead lap) and he was lapped at lap 184.

The Caution came out at lap 190 for the 24 spinning, which put Logano back on the lead lap. He pitted and restarted at P9 when the green flag came out. Logano was at P8 when the Caution came out on lap 198 for the 31 / 88 / 12 / 41 / 17 / 62 / 32 / and 78 all wrecking. This meant the race would go into NASCAR overtime. T.J. came over the radio and stated “It looks like a beach over there” (evidently T.J. Majors is as much a fan of Speedy Dry as Tab Boyd is!).

When the Green came out, Logano was at P7, but finished the race at P4. Austin Dillon won his first Daytona 500 and Darrell Wallace Jr. came in P2 for his first full time Cup race.

Logano is currently second in the stats with 50 points. Ryan Blaney is number one with 58 points, and Austin Dillon secured his place in the playoffs with the win.

Next race is Atlanta. This will again be interesting with the new ride setups. The Fords were predicted to do well at Daytona, but the mile and a half tracks will be a different beast.

Details of crew and procedural changes for the 2018 Cup Series​I hope everyone has had a few good months since November, but NASCAR IS BACK ON TRACK THIS WEEKEND! While the Clash is not a points race, it is still good to see the cars and drivers and get the season started. And, of course, I’m hoping for a repeat winner from last year’s Clash.

“Silly Season” started early with several of the announcements of retiring drivers during the season last year. Thanks to NASCARFemale – now Ladies of Speed - I was actually in the press conference when Matt Kenseth announced he would not have a ride for the 2018 season.

Below are the driver changes for the 2018 season as of now. I hope I didn’t miss anyone, there was a lot to keep up with.

Other changes happening as far as the cars and pit road are concerned:

5 over the wall pit crew changed from 6. The gas man can only do fuel, no more kicking a tire out of the way or adding a wrench to the back of the car.

NASCAR will debut a new inspection system this season. It’s unofficial name is the Hawkeye System, but NASCAR plans on announcing a name for it at a later date. The system will allow NASCAR greater scrutinizing of the entire car and also streamline the process.

No longer will a driver have to sit in their car on pit road while serving a timed penalty during a practice session. Those penalties will be served in the garage.

On Cup Series cars in 2018, the fender component will be made of composite material (the same being used for Xfinity Series bodies) instead of steel.

The change is intended to ensure that side skirts will hold their original shape unlike the steel side skirts that could be deformed. Bending or flaring out a side skirt in front of the rear tire can provide more downforce and sideforce.​So, lots of new things to watch in the coming year. I can’t wait and hope you’ll follow me and our newly named site ladiesofspeed.org.